


And So We Have Each Other

by thequeenmeera



Series: And So We Have Each Other [4]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, Past Abuse, Past Drug Use, Past Suicide Attempts, gonna be adding characters and ships, i think, there's a lot going on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-03-08 06:19:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18888889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequeenmeera/pseuds/thequeenmeera
Summary: Bran and Meera have been dating for a while and are taking the next steps in their relationship which will require dredging up the past.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the Modern AU I've been very slowly working on for the last year or so. There's going to be some difficult and depressing content due to past events.

They were taking it slow. Slowly enough that Rickon was able to make endless metaphors comparing the pace of their relationship to the pace of Arya’s pet turtle Raphael when they set him in the grass. Though as a turtle Garin could not be expected to move quickly in the backyard and was very fast in the water Meera told them. Bran liked the pace they were going at, he never felt pressured but he still got to be around Meera every day, they kissed often and only dated each other. It felt particularly peaceful that bright autumn day. It was warm in the sunshine and Meera’s hand felt perfect in his. He glanced at the top of her head, her curls bounced as she walked. “Are you sure you can’t get time off tomorrow?” she asked.

“Very sure, Dr. Rivers won’t let me out of his sight after the last time I skived work. His whole mentoring thing seems to require me to live at the office.”

“Ugh. Dr. Manderly can be demanding but it’s not _that_ bad.”

“I’ve noticed.” He said dryly.

They stopped walking and Meera leaned into his side, “I wish you could come, I’ll miss you this weekend.”

He snorted “I doubt it, you’ll be catching frogs and taking samples the whole time. You won’t even notice I’m not there.”

Meera squeezed Bran’s hand, “Yes I will. I love you Bran.”

Bran stopped walking and stared, his mouth slightly open. His heart had stopped beating altogether. “You what?”

“I said _I love you_ Bran Stark.” Her face was completely serious, not a hint of amusement.

They stood for a long minute, Meera’s brow scrunched up in worry while Bran tried to calm the storm in his mind, until she let his hand drop and pulled his face down to meet hers. He kissed her fiercely, still trying to come up with the right words. When they stopped he kept his face close to hers. “I love you too” he said before he closed the gap again.

LATER

Bran sighed and readjusted in his seat, his legs were starting to go numb. The ice on his back was helping with the pain at least. Ever since the operations he’d been able to feel from his nether regions to his toes but the downside was the pain that came with the operation. Bran was technically disabled still, he sometimes used a cane at home or in his apartment; he had one at work as well but since he rarely left his office he kept it tucked discreetly between the desk and the wall, blocked by the door. It was getting dark out and he could hear the ravens quorking as they settled in the trees outside.

Dr. Rivers was meeting with clients in his office, they didn’t look like regular clients though. There was something up with him but there was always something fishy going on with Dr. Rivers so Bran didn’t pay him much mind. Instead he turned back to the over-bright screen of his computer and went back to studying the new fire safety codes which needed to be integrated into all new projects. Deciphering the legal-ese made Bran’s head hurt almost as much as his back.

During his work and his break Bran tried to ignore the anxiety that knotted in his stomach and would made it impossible to sleep. Meera loved him, _finally_. He’d loved her from the evening they’d met nine years ago. Her family had moved to Winterfell since her dad’s work with conservation had taken off and Meera wanted to be in a more challenging school so the whole family had relocated rather than splitting their time between Winterfell and Greywater. Meera’s research still brought her back to the swamps of the Neck which is where she’d gone for the long weekend. Studying the populations and conditions of animals like frogs, lizard-lions, egrets, and those nasty snapping turtles Bran had had a run-in with the first time he’d visited his friends’ old stomping grounds.

That first night Meera had come into the dining room first, Jojen came behind her too busy staring at the art on the walls to really notice the people. Meera had been dressed strangely, or strangely for Winterfell with her leather jacket and loose white tank top, green pants, muddy boots (Bran’s mother had nearly keeled over when the Reeds failed to leave their shoes at the door, it took years to train them properly on that), and carrying a large and obviously old porcelain dish from which wafted a strange smell. The Starks found out later that the dish they’d eaten was in fact frog legs cooked in a mint-berry substance. Sansa had thrown up, Rickon had kindly held her hair for her.

Frog legs aside Bran had been feeling something very different warming his chest and churning in his lower regions ever since Meera had walked into that dining room, the light seeming to form a halo around her head. She’d set the dish down on the buffet with the other foods and when she turned around she’d smiled at Bran and said hello.

He hadn’t been able to put it into words for years first because he couldn’t name it then, he was frightened, but one winter day during an intense snowball fight with the Reeds and their sometimes helper and neighbor Hodor, Bran had finally let himself think it: _I love her_ he’d thought, warmth and excitement flowing through him before he’d been nailed in the face with a huge snowball Meera had thrown hard enough for him to fall against the nearest tree, snow had sloughed off the branches and buried him.

As Bran sat back down at his desk with a fresh hot water bottle to put on his back and a cup of soup to serve for dinner – he needed to work late again and his apartment was a lonely place since his landlord wouldn’t allow him to keep Summer there after the incident with Rickon and the Freys downstairs – he tried not to think about Meera but his efforts to keep her out of his head only served to make him think of her more. There were so many things he hadn’t told her and he was itching for a fix, unfortunately Arya had found his stash six months before and flushed it all in front of him. “Bran,” she’d said so calmly Bran knew she was ready to snap, “I understand that you have pain to deal with but _this_ ” she shook the bag filled with contraband pain meds, morphine, heroin, and pot that she’d gathered from her snooping, “this isn’t what you’ve been prescribed.” Bran hadn’t even tried to rebuild his stash since then, he did not need Meera to know he was an addict and he especially didn’t need to be murdered by his sister.

He’d never told Meera about his addiction, the three suicide attempts, his hospital stays and stints in rehab and the mental ward. He didn’t want to tell her. But now things were getting real with them and his secrets wouldn’t stay below much longer. He could feel it all rising up like vomit.

Bran had tried to keep the pain a secret from everyone, he’d confided in Arya and Jojen to a point. Arya because of her work and he’d always been closer to her than any of their other siblings by virtue of their being so close in age. On top of that she’d made him explain more when she’d cleaned out his apartment. Jojen was his best friend and after realizing he couldn’t stop Bran from using had recommended certain dealers and measured Bran’s usage. Bran knew Arya had threatened Jojen’s life when she found out about his involvement and that Jojen had gotten help for his own problem willingly after that intervention.

If Meera had still been in town she might have dropped by the office to give Bran dinner and keep him company for an hour or two before Dr. Rivers would finally finish up with his noticeably eccentric clients that only Dr. Rivers dealt with and he’d stop by his protégée’s office, find Meera, and try to scare her out. It never really worked but Meera would have to leave anyway since Bran needed to work and Meera always had papers to write or data to enter or she’d need to go home to make sure Jojen was alright and taking his meds, or run errands or talk to their dad about something regarding the wildlife center he ran.

It always seemed that the lights dimmed when she left him. It was certainly dimmer that evening with Meera being out of town and Bran trying and failing to not stew about their relationship and _what_ was he going to tell her when the pain and the drugs inevitably came up.

And it would come up; it was all going to come up. The anxiety crept from the back of his mind to grip him. Bran froze in his chair and tried to control his heart rate, his breathing. _In and out, in and out_ he commanded himself. _There’s no need to think about that, about him_. Although the shining, golden face still leered in his mind’s eye. That was only a figment of his imagination. A projection based on him wanting to blame someone for his mistake.

 _Who falls off a tower?_ He thought. _No, who f*cking climbs up the crumbling walls of an ancient tower?_ The placement of his fall was another reason he never told anyone about it. It had been easily blamed on slipping, on the stones crumbling beneath his weight. Some rubble had come down with him. _And that’s what happened_ , he thought in the calmest manner he could, _The grips crumbled under my hands_.

*****************

Frogs are not easy to measure. They are slippery and jumpy, always looking for an opportunity to leap away. They are fragile and require gentle handling, including frequent watering so their skin doesn’t dry. While wading in one of the ponds capturing as many amphibians as possible for her research Meera was pleased to discover that a species of salamander that was particularly sensitive to pollutants in the environment had moved back into the area. “Looks like my dad’s work is taking effect,” she told Tommen who was the undergrad assisting her.

“Hey Meera, can I ask you a question?” Tommen asked, while they examined the salamander.

“Sure, what about?”

“Well, you’re a crannogman, or woman. So is it true you eat frogs?”

She snorted, “People tend to eat what’s available to them so sure, sometimes.”

“And are you all like actually smaller or is that something people just say?”

Meera glanced at her companion, he wasn’t being rude yet but she was still on her guard. “Well growth has to do with genetics and nutrition so on average we might be smaller but so are other ethnic groups and I really think the food has a lot more to do with it. After all most people nowadays are taller than their ancestors and the primary difference is the availability of food.”

Encouraged Tommen continued, “So like I’ve heard that Crannogmen religion is kind of different from the rest of the North.”

She shrugged, “Not very much. We believe in the same gods we just have more rituals or maybe they’re older rituals. The rest of the North is more affected by Andal religion so the customs are more similar there. Like with weddings the couples make the same sort of vows just in a different place.”

“– But northern weddings _are_ different from Southron. You just said –”

“Not in my opinion. The rest of the North, except Skagos and beyond the Wall, they adopted a lot of the same customs except attending sept. They’re actually less religious than us on the whole. We pray more and our weddings and funerals and births are closer to how they were before the Andal invasion.”

Tommen nodded, “Okay then.”

He didn’t ask her any more questions for a while. But when they were grabbing dinner before heading back to check the camera traps and equipment that would be set up for the night crew he took the subject back up. “When I was little my friends told me that crannogmen –”

“Look Tommen,” Meera interrupted, “I’m really not up to discussing this. Us crannogmen are normal people who might have a few different traditions and eat different food because we eat what’s available and went without much contact with the outside world for several thousand years. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss? How are you classes?”

Tommen took the correction gracefully. “They’re fine. Senioritis is killing me though,” they both chuckled, “but there’s still a lot going on with my family since my brother…” he trailed off.

Meera had never liked what little she’d seen of Joffrey and she knew the brothers hadn’t been close but still. Losing a brother must be hard. She sighed, “I’m sorry if I upset you.”

“It’s not you that’s bothering me it’s just that Joff was my brother, even if he was a douchebag. And my mom hasn’t been handling it well at all.”

“Your dad died a few years back right?” she remembered seeing the accident reported on the news and the Starks had all attended the funeral.

Tommen nodded, “Yeah, but we weren’t close either. The real problem for me was when my uncles arranged for my sister to go to school in Dorne. Get away from our mom. It was better for Myrcella but that left me to be smothered.”

“So they took your sister away but left you with her?”

“Well my mom did lose custody about a year later and my great uncle Kevan took me in after that. Honestly living with Kevan was probably the best thing that happened to me and when the time came to go to school I would never have been independent enough to change majors or move out and come up here.” He looked at Meera over their food, “So how have you been?”

Meera had to think about it, there were things she wouldn’t share with Tommen such as Dr. Manderly informing her that their funding was in danger thanks to budget cuts and public policy moving in favor of development, logging, and mining. “I’ve been okay y’know, making ends meet. And things are going great with Bran and me so I can’t complain.”

“Oh, I forgot you were dating Bran!” Tommen said. “Last time I saw him he’d just gotten out of rehab. Is he doing okay?”

“Yeah, he’s been clean for a while now. His sister got rid of any drugs he had left a few months ago and I see him enough to know he’s alright.” She hoped she was reading the signs right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now I have to write another chapter? yikes.  
> You can watch my mental deterioration in real-time [on my tumblr](https://theladymeera.tumblr.com/).


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bran and Meera go camping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record butterscotch soda is really good. That and huckleberry. And of course they’re almost impossible to get my hands on. Now I want huckleberry lemonade which is also… impossible to find outside of like Jackson Hole. Maybe I could make it over there in the next couple weekends.......  
> Also, I needed to get to the plot instead of dwelling on Bran’s mental health and tell-not-show storytelling so we’re jumping right into the ups and downs of Bran and Meera’s lives while they try to navigate their way as a now Couple couple.

Their early dinner was good. Hot sandwiches wrapped in wax paper paired with sodas which they ate on the drive to the lake. Meera had packed marshmallows and small sausages to roast over the fire which she had to build because whenever Bran built them he ended up needing fire-starting fluid which, according to Meera, would ruin the taste of the food. She’d brought a stack of void paperwork for kindling. Meera liked saving old exams and papers that students had never taken back or exam templates that she didn’t need anymore for bonfires.

So while Meera was setting up the rest of the camp and preparing the fire Bran was left to stumble through setting up the tent which he screwed up so much Meera eventually had to come and laughingly help him match poles to the right slots, set the tent right on the first tarp, hammer the stakes into the ground lest the tent start blowing away with them inside it, and finally tie down the rain covering and the second tarp to the top of the tent. Meera was a great believer in tarps after having so many tents flooded over the years.

Bran put the third tarp inside, covering the bottom to further protect their things from the dew and set up the bedding, blowing up the air mattress and covering it with the extra-large sleeping bag and a pile of quilts he’d taken from a linen closet at his parent’s house. He set their bags inside the tent and set a small tent lamp in the pouch the hung below the window for it.

It was near dark when he tripped back out of the tent and Meera laughed at him. “Took you long enough Stark.”

“I did my best,” he grumbled as he threw himself into the camp chair she’d set up for him by the fire.

“Aw, I know you did. I’m just teasing,” Meera playfully shoved him and laughed more while he grumbled and growled. “I’m sorry you didn’t bring Summer up with us,” she said as she pulled the sausages and more sodas out of the cooler.

Bran blushed and swallowed before answering, “I’m not sure how he’d react to us… doing anything. I didn’t want to risk being interrupted tonight.” He rubbed at the back of his neck, trying to look casual.

“Oh so you admit you took me up here just so we can have sex. You have your own apartment Bran, we could have done it there. It would certainly be warmer,” Meera’s voice had gone from teasing to soft at the end. She was comfortable in the outdoors and there were so many stars. More impressive was the green and purple northern lights that danced before the stars.

“I don’t know I just… wanted it to be special. And it’s quiet here.”

“Mmm,” Meera mused, “It’s beautiful too.”

Bran watched Meera as she watched the northern lights, a small smile playing on her lips. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered.

Her smile grew wider, “Are you trying to get me to bed? I wanted my s’mores first.”

“Oh alright,” he groaned and they dug the marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers out of the dry food box.

Bran managed to burn half of the marshmallows he roasted by shoving them too close to the embers, “You have to be patient wolf boy!” Meera scolded him. “Here,” she grabbed his hand and forced it up so his current victim was hovering nearly a foot above the glowing logs. He held it still and she grumbled about needing to turn it as if it was on a spit. “Just do what I do!”

It was easy enough to watch Meera, harder to copy her because he was distracted watching her. The logs were slowly burning from the inside, glowing red and white, flickering light within that mimicked the dance of the northern lights above. Bran wasn’t used to seeing Meera in the dark or the half-light and admired how the shadows changed her face. He hadn’t been joking about her being beautiful.

This marshmallow was unburnt, though more toasted on one side, Bran had been very distracted by Meera. Bran reached into the bag for another one and found it empty. “We can’t have eaten the whole bag,” he whined.

“We’ve been roasting them for a while, and I think you ate most of them cuz I’ve only had like five.”

Bran finished his last bottle of soda, butterscotch flavor as Meera had claimed the huckleberry. Neither of them was much for drinking and Bran had wanted to be sober for this. He didn’t want to miss out on the night or compromise his ability to drive for some temporary calm which he would likely be embarrassed by in the morning. “What should we do now?” he tried to keep his tone light, he was too nervous to be suggestive right then.

Meera looked at him for a few long moments then checked her phone, “It’s not actually that late.” She reached into the woodpile and threw on a couple more logs, “I’d like to go down to the lake if you don’t mind.”

Bran nodded quickly, “Yeah that sounds great.”

It was a warm night, likely to be one of the last warm nights before the autumn chill really set in. Meera led the way down the short path through the trees, a flashlight in hand. They scared some night creatures that were near the path on their way down, a raccoon and a fox according to Meera though Bran couldn’t see well enough to confirm. “Are there any dangerous animals up here?” He asked.

“Depends on what you consider dangerous.”

“Meera!”

“Well there are bears in some areas, moose, elk, stags can be quite dangerous, shadowcats and mountain lions, wolves…”

“Bears! Meera there are bears up here?”

She turned and caught him in the beam of light, bringing their march to a hault. “We put the food in the car and it’s not like you’ve never been up here before. Did you seriously miss the signs about it being bear country all these years?”

“I sort of thought it was a joke. Robb always told me they just put up those signs to scare people.”

“And you believed him?”

“Well there was one time Sansa and I were convinced there was a bear when we were staying in a cabin west of here, and dad told us it was just the older boys playing a joke on us. Which it probably was.”

“Hmmm,” Meera hummed. “Well we can’t very well ask Robb for the truth about it but…” She paused, thinking, “There probably aren’t bears up here.”

She turned back to the trail and led him out onto the beach and then the dock. They deposited their socks and shoes and Bran followed Meera to the end. Meera turned off her flashlight and sat down cross-legged. Bran rolled up the legs of his jeans and sat, dangling his legs over the edge and in the water. The water was cool but warmer than he’d expected for a mountain lake.

Bran reached out and took Meera’s hand in his; they sat in silence for a time, both admiring the incredible views of the sky filled with millions upon millions of stars, blanketed with the flickering northern lights, a crescent moon shining bright in the southeast, the visible high peaks and great, dark trees ringing them in that were all reflected in the surface of the lake. Meera moved slowly closer to him until she was kneeling and pressed into his side, her thick curls tickled his neck when she pressed her head into the dent of his shoulder. He released her hand and wrapped his arm around her instead.

It was Meera who broke the silence, “It really is amazing,” she whispered, afraid to make too much noise.

“Yeah; I’m glad I get to share this” he gestured with his free arm “with you.”

She giggled and pinched his thigh, “You are such a sap.”

“Watch your hands Lady Reed,” He teased.

She laughed harder and extricated herself from his side, standing quickly, and walked to the other side of the dock. “How’s the water Branny boy?” she asked.

“Uh, it’s fine. Warmer than I expected.”

He could see her nod in the weak light. “Is it very deep?”

“What?”

“The lake? Is it really deep?”

“It’s sort of shallow here I remember, deep enough to dive in but safe to swim in before that point over there,” He pointed towards a jut of land that he remembered his father using as a sort of no-swim-past point when he was growing up, “Provided there’s a lifeguard.”

She groaned, “We don’t really need a lifeguard though, I don’t plan on swimming out there.”

Bran pulled his legs out and stood up quickly, walking towards her, “You aren’t actually going swimming are you?”

“Of course I am, what’s the point of camping by a lake if we’re not going to swim in it?”

“We don’t have suits, or at least I didn’t pack one.”

Meera grabbed his chin “Bran we’re the only people out here. _We don’t need swimsuits_.”

Her point struck him hard, “Wait so you want to go skinny dipping?”

“Yeah.” And with that Meera pulled off her sweater.

Bran stood transfixed; he couldn’t see clearly in the dark but he could see the moonlight reflecting off her skin as she pulled off first her maroon sweater, then the old white tee shirt she’d been wearing underneath, and struggled out of a light-colored sports bra before moving to her jeans. He was trying to make sense of his girlfriend stripping in front of him – something he’d planned on seeing that night but not quite in this context and not something he’d been able to fully visualize before – when she dropped the last bit of clothing on the dock and stepped to the edge. “Bran, are you coming in?” She asked.

He was still busy staring, putting together the bits of skin he could see, trying to think of how she would look in the daylight and it took until she made an exasperated sigh and jumped into the water for him to really understand that she meant for him to swim with her. “Oh,” he said slowly.

So Bran ripped off his own clothes as fast as he could, and fell into the water after her, earning a sharp laugh from Meera with his lack of grace.

They swam out from the dock. “This is a lot colder than you led me to believe,” Meera said when they stopped to tread water. Bran wondered how deep it was but was too scared to dive down and check.

“You’re the one who decided to get in.”

Meera snorted, “It’s not like I can’t handle it or anything it’s just cold enough for me to complain.”

She flipped onto her back, floating on the surface of the water so she could admire the sky. Bran admired the shape of her lithe frame for a few moments, feeling the ominous – though desired – rush of blood southward. The sensation jolted him back to his sensibilities, the ones instilled in him by his parents and he looked about instead, noticing how it appeared they’d jumped into space though wherever they touched the reflection was interrupted.

“Bran,” Meera called, “You could float with me; you don’t have to tread water all the time.”

“I just,” he searched for an explanation.

“You don’t want me to see that you’re hard?”

Bran spluttered, “Uh.”

“You were planning on having sex tonight so I’m going to see it anyway. I promise not to tease.”

So he obeyed, he knew if there was a light on his face he’d be red as a beet. But it didn’t take long for him to relax, content with the feeling of floating and staring up into space. He could be floating amongst the stars for all he knew. He quite lost track of time as they floated, carried along with the small waves and gentle current until it was that Bran realized they’d drifted very far into the lake. “Meera,” he said, suddenly tense.

“What’s the matter?”

“Meera can you see that point, the one we weren’t supposed to swim past?”

Meera carefully lifted her head and looked to either side, “I don’t see it.”

Bran sunk back down and shot up, looking about for the point. “Oh, shit!” he cried when he saw how far they’d gone past it.

Meera followed suit but grabbed his arm before he could become frantic, “It’s okay Bran. We’ll just swim back now.”

He wished they could just float back but that clearly wouldn’t work. So they started swimming. They had to stop for breath when they were only a quarter of the way back, barely past the safety point when they stopped for breath. “We’re going to be fine,” Meera told him. She was hardly out of breath, being a much more adept swimmer than him. She swam closer to him and grabbed him arm, pulling him closer to the shore on one side. The water was surprisingly shallow there and Bran was able to stop and stand on a rock. Meera was too short for that and kept treading water. “Just rest here until you’re ready to go on.”

“We could get out here, walk back to camp,” He suggested.

Meera shook her head, “We don’t have any light, we could just as easily get lost and without shoes…”

He groaned, “Just let me rest for a few minutes then.”

She waited a minute before she started needling him again, “So even with this little problem, did you like my idea?”

“Which idea?”

“Skinny dipping, obviously.”

“Well it feels good to swim and you look great naked so that’s a definite plus. What’s your point?”

She sort of shrugged while keeping herself afloat, “I mean you’re not so bad yourself.”

He grinned, starting to get the idea. “Come here,” he said.

She did, grabbing his hand and pulling herself into his arms, wrapping herself around him. It wasn’t the kind of foreplay Bran had planned on. When he’d tried to think out their first time he’d expected to take his time talking to Meera, kissing her, slowly undressing, not her suddenly pressing against him in the water, already buck naked. Her mouth crashed against his and he held her firm, trying to keep steady and not fall off the rock he had precariously balanced himself on. It was warm wherever they touched and he gripped her thighs, holding her closer.

Bran was just trying to figure out the logistics of having sex while standing stock still on a rock in a lake without protection when Meera pushed his shoulders a little too hard in her efforts to kiss him and he fell off it, plunging both of them into the water.

They came back up laughing, and Meera splashed him. “I guess we went for it too soon.”

He nodded and coughed, “We should probably hold off until we get back to camp.”

“Are you sure?” Meera said, trying her best to sound seductive.

He sighed and pulled her back over to him and they resumed their kisses. Meera’s mouth tasted like marshmallow and chocolate. Her hands seemed to be everywhere and Bran enjoyed the freedom of being able to run his own fingers over her body but they were misaligned, bobbing in the water, trying to stay afloat and kiss and touch. It wasn’t working and Bran tore away from her kiss for a breath and heard her gasp in his ear.

Bran turned to his side and saw a large black shape floating towards them. _A bear_ , was his first thought but that did not seem right.

“AHOY!” An all too familiar voice rang out, “What’s going on out here?”

“Theon?!” Bran and Meera asked in unified incredulity.

Theon guffawed, “Oh no it is not who I think it is!”

“Is that Bran?” _Robb_.

“Robb, Theon, what are you doing out here?”

“We should be asking you that question Brandon Stark,” Robb used his best imitation of their father. “Who’s that with you? Is that Meera? What in seven hells are you two doing?!”

“Swimming obviously,” Meera said. “What are _you_ doing?”

“Night fishing,” Theon said cheerfully.

“Patrolling for skinny dippers,” was Robb’s addition.

Bran snorted, “That’s just… wrong.”

“Whatever, what are you doing?”

“We were just swimming back to the docks actually,” Meera said.

“Isn’t that a bit far?” Theon asked.

“We didn’t realize we’d gone so far out until a few minutes ago.”

“We can’t exactly walk there,” Bran grumbled.

He could hear Robb sigh in exasperation, “We could get you there in a few minutes if you get in the boat.”

Meera coughed, “Not possible.”

“Why not? Granted getting you in here without tipping the boat will be tricky but it’s not like we can’t paddle over there.”

“We’re sort of… naked,” Bran replied.

Theon laughed, Robb groaned. “Right, well we have jackets you can use.”

“Thanks,” Bran said.

“No, not you,” Robb scolded, “I’ll protect your girlfriend’s honor but you little brother can suffer.”

Meera took the offer and with a little maneuvering Robb helped her into the boat and quickly handed her his coat while averting his eyes from how the moonlight reflected off all her exposed skin. Bran had to think about it for a minute longer but gave up his pride. He huddled in the middle of the boat next to Meera while the two older men rowed them back to the docks. It _was_ a much faster trip than they would have had otherwise.

Meera stood between him and the boat, guarding his bare ass from the view of his brother and one-time foster brother. “Are you at the Liddle campsite?” Robb asked.

“Yeah,” Bran huffed.

There was some muttering between the older men before they turned back to Bran and Meera. “Well we’re going to join you just as soon as we can get our things put together so don’t do anything stupid,” Robb said.

“So that means you have about thirty minutes to get back to your tent and do the do before big brother comes to chaperone this thing,” Theon said.

“We’re _adults_ ,” Bran griped.

“Barely,” Robb snorted.

Meera grabbed Bran’s shoulder to stop him from arguing further. As soon as the boat was definitely facing the other direction and moving away from the dock she dropped the coat from around her shoulders and they both pulled their discarded clothes back on.

The walk back to the campsite was uncomfortable. They were both cold and tired and their clothes stuck to their wet skin. Bran grabbed her hand and held it, trying to share just a little bit of warmth and silently apologize for his brother.

Meera had a towel in her bag which they both used to dry off before pulling on their pajamas and crawling into the bedding Bran had set up. They’d barely done so when the rumble of Theon’s truck’s engine came into range and the headlights swept over the area. They left the lights on while the men set up their tent in the spot just next to Bran and Meera’s. Theon called a cheerful goodnight before all went dark.

Bran waited a few minutes to ask his question. “Meera?” He whispered. They were spooning for warmth which gave Bran the excuse to hold her tight and siphon off some of her warmth.

“Yeah Bran?” She replied.

“You weren’t actually trying to have sex in the lake were you?”

She sighed, “I sort of was Bran. I thought that was obvious.”

“But, we didn’t have protection.”

“I got one of those rings, so it’s not like we were entirely unprotected.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you were on birth control.”

“I only started a couple months ago, when I thought we were getting to this point.”

Bran shifted, trying to move away from a sharp elbow. “So you’ve never been on birth control before?”

When she shrugged her shoulders bumped against his chest, “I’ve never really needed it. None of my earlier relationships worked out and…” she trailed off.

“And what,” Bran asked.

She sighed, “Nothing. I haven’t ever been in a serious enough relationship to consider having sex before now.”

Bran listened for the sounds of his brother’s snores, “We probably could do it tonight, if you wanted. If we could be quiet enough.”

“I don’t think we should try. Let’s just go to sleep.”

“Yeah I just sort of built up this trip in my mind as going a little differently than it has.”

“Well we’re not breaking up so there’ll be plenty of other chances. Chances where your brother and Theon aren’t floating around to play chaperone for kicks.”

He laughed a little, “Yeah.”

“Goodnight Bran.”

“Goodnight,” Bran tipped forward and brushed his lips on her cheek and whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Meera murmured.

“AWWW!” Theon shouted from about two feet outside the tent.

“FUCK OFF THEON!” Meera shouted back.

 

When Bran woke up Meera’s back was still pressed to his chest and he was hard against her thigh. “I was going to ask if that was your knee or a flashlight you’d left in the bag,” she joked as he started to move back.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. Speech did not come easily in the morning.

Robb and Theon were cooking breakfast by the time Bran and Meera emerged into the crisp morning light fully dressed and packed to load their tent back into Bran’s car.

“Good morning lovebirds!” Theon chirruped.

Robb glared at Bran over the fire, “Yeah good morning.”

“Morning,” Bran grumbled back.

“What are you cooking?” Meera asked Theon.

“Oh ya know, just some eggs, some pancakes…”

“All of it burnt,” Robb added.

Robb kept glaring at Bran and Meera all through the meal and when Meera and Theon went to hastily clean and load the cooled dishes Bran stayed behind to talk to his brother who was putting out the fire. “What is going on with you?” Bran asked.

“I don’t know what you mean little brother.”

“Really? Meera and I are adults, we’ve been dating for a year, why do you suddenly feel the need to chaperone us?”

Robb glared at Bran, “You’re my little brother. This is what older brothers do.”

Bran scoffed, “No this is what you do. Pointlessly screw up what little time I get to spend with my girlfriend.”

“I didn’t stop you from sleeping in the same tent. You could have been having sex all night if you wanted.”

“But you knew we wouldn’t because we have some decency.”

“So? Is it really the worst thing in the world?”

Robb started stalking back to Theon’s truck but Bran stopped him. “Seriously, Robb. There’s something more to this than you just joking around.” Then the answer struck him, “Is this about you and Jeyne? This is isn’t it? Look, just because you jumped into a relationship too soon over your sexual shame doesn’t mean Meera and I are going to have the same problem.”

His brother was like a stone wall, “I never said anything about Jeyne.”

“You don’t have to. Has the divorce gone through?”

Robb seemed to deflate, “Yesterday.”

“I’m –”

Before Bran could finish his condolences they were interrupted by Meera, “– Hey guys, Theon’s truck won’t start.”

Robb ran off to help without a word.

“What was all that about?” Meera asked Bran.

Bran rubbed at his neck, “I think he’s upset over the divorce and he was sort of taking it out on us is all.”

“Well like I said, it’s not like he ruined anything for us. It was just one night. And I mean, sex in the lake wouldn’t have really worked. I don’t think.” She was blushing but she looked him in the eye while she spoke.

“Yeah, we’re fine.”

They smiled at each other sheepishly, happily. Bran did feel closer to Meera now. Being naked together, being able to talk openly about something as intimate and often secretive as sex left him feeling safer with her.

In the end they had to abandon Theon’s truck at the site with the assurance that a tow company could be called as soon as they got service again.

The four of them were cramped into Meera’s jeep, cramped because they’d stuffed the bags and supplies for four people into one vehicle. Bran was about to suggest they stop at one of Robb’s favorite restaurants for a consolation lunch on their way back into town when he was interrupted by the whirring of a phone call.

“We have service again!” Theon cheered and immediately whipped out his phone to get ahold of a tow company.

“Whose phone is that?” Meera asked.

“Mine,” Robb said. He answered the call. “Hey mum – no, I was just camping with Theon overnight, we’re driving back with Bran and Meera – Theon’s truck broke down – yeah – no – well we just got service again – WHAT? – Are you sure? – Is Jon okay? – Oh gods. Yeah, we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

Everyone was waiting to hear Robb’s report. Bran turned to look at his elder brother and saw that most of the color had drained from his face, “Hey, Meera can you drive us to Castle Black instead of Winterstown?” Robb asked.

“Yeah… of course”

“Robb what’s going on? Who was that?” Bran asked.

Robb looked down at his hands, “That was mom. Jon’s been in an accident.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting a couple five-week summer courses tomorrow so we'll see if I can get another chapter up soon or not. though even if I do have time I have like twelve other WIPs competing for dominance so I'm not making any promises on an update schedule but I won't ever completely abandon my fics. They will get finished in time folks!


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